me @jaketapper and check out at cnn.com/the lead. we have videos, blogs, extras. that "the lead." i turn you now over to wolf blitzer in "the situation room." blitzer in "the situation room." mr. blitzer? -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com happening now, president obama reacts to the route at the polls after watching republicans take control of the u.s. senate. the president says he'll find ways to work with the republican leadership. fixing the senate can the outgoing minority leader ride heard over the new gop majority? mitch mcconnell says he's up to the task and i'll ask senator lindsay graham what republicans really want. jerusalem rampage amid new clashes over holy sites. a van driver kills a police officer and injures a dozen bystanders. hamas praises what israel calls a terror attack. and kim drops the cane. north korea's leader may be

moving more easily, but he's moving against his political rivals. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." this is cnn breaking news." we're following two breaking stories, hours after republicans seized control of the senate and padded the house, the president saying to voters i hear you and he's also saying to republicans let's find ways to work together. meantime, tensions are exploding half a world away. hamas is blessing what israel called a terror attack. a van driver plowed into a jerusalem crowd killing a police officer and then swung a metal bar at bystanders before being shot dead and more graphic video here. a hunt is right now under way for another driver who ran into a group of soldiers in the west bank. our correspondents and analysts are standing by and i'll speak with republican senator lindsay graham. he's standing by live this hour. let's begin with our white house

correspondent michelle kosinski. >> hi, wolf. the president acknowledged last night's tough loss. at times he seemed glumly resigned that now is the time that he will have to more effectively reach out saying now is the time to work together and get things done. listen. >> the american people sent a message, one that they've sent for several elections now. they expect the people they elect to work as hard as they do, so to everyone who voted, i want you to know that i hear you. to the two of this thirds of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, i hear you, too. >> the issue that's being most closely watched right now is a sensitive issue of immigration reform in the united states and i wonder if i have a clear sense right now, will the president go ahead and issue an executive order and take executive action as he said previously.

if congress doesn't pass through legislation, com pro hencive immigration reforms because republicans are saying including mitch mcconnell, the new leader in the u.s. senate he would be effectively poisoning the well if he were to take that kind unilateral action. isn't what happened last night a sort of voters referendum on policies like that on executive actions like he's vowed to take on immigration? he made it very clear that yes, he will take that action, but in presenting this to the new members of congress it's almost like he wanted to have it both ways. to first strike a tone of compromise, compromise, compromise and on immigration he actually said, let's sit down, let's hear what ideas republicans have. let's see how they would like to do it and then see what works and see how we can do this together, but if that doesn't work then, yes, i'm going to take that executive action. here's part of what he said. >> so we've got a bipartisan bill out of the senate. i asked john boehner at that point can we pass this through

the house? there say majority of votes to get this passed and speaker boehner, i think, was sincere about wanting to pass it, but had difficulty over the last year trying to get it done. they want to get a bill done whether it's during the lame duck or next year, i'm eager to see what they have to offer, but what i'm not going to do is just wait. >> we heard something similar on health care, too. him saying, look, congress is going to now pass bills that i cannot sign and i'm going to take executive action that they're not going to like. so he's saying we're going to compromise and we'll get everything possible to work together, but there are some areas in which i will not compromise. on health care, he said, look, i'm not going to sign a bill that would repeal obamacare or effectively repeal it by taking away chunks from it. okay, the bill is not perfect. obamacare is not a perfect law and if i had to do it differently sure there are some things that would change.

so you really hear it both ways. compromise, but that has its limits, wolf. thanks very much. it sure is a thundering stampede by the republicans trampling democrats to take control of the u.s. senate and who will ride over the strong gop personalities in the new senate? the current minority leader mitch mcconnell is signaling he is up to the task and he'll be the majority leader. and let's bring in dana bash. it's a very dynamic situation. >> that's for sure. look, mitch mcconnell has been waiting his whole professional, political life for the press conference he's had today. he's always wanted to be the senate majority leader, to run the senate. he's been preparing for it for years and in this particular case we're told a dual ideas are in the work so he can show republicans can govern. mitch mcconnell missed the first congratulatory call, but they connected. >> it was a very cordial conversation. i appreciated the call.

>> but with political victory, total gop control of congress comes the responsibility for republicans to govern. mcconnell bent over backward to say he gets that. >> i think we ought to start with the view that maybe there are some things we can agree on, but said for him to negotiate the president can't agrostraight the gop base by taking executive action on immigration. >> it's like waving a red flag in front of a bull to say if you don't do what i want, i'll do it on my own. he has to contend with unruly fellow republicans that make up his new majority like iowa's joni ernst who wouldn't even commit to supporting mcconnell for leader. >> would you vote for mitch mcconnell. >> i'm trying to get through november 4th first and then that will be determined after that. >> neither would ted cruz. >> well, that will be a decision for the conference to make and that will be decided next week. >> let me just make a prediction

for you. a week from tomorrow i'll be elected majority leader of the senate. >> mcconnell is a rare senator who never wanted to be president, but several senate republicans are eyeing the 2016 white house run. ted cruz, marco rubio, mcconnell can handle them. >> i've served in a body of class presidents and they've all ambitious. >> gop control of congress will be different. they will vote on gop ideas for the first time since the obama presidency and they will hold vets on their pet issues like the keystone pipeline, but more votes likely mean more vetoes since he's had to block gop policies, obama has vetoed two bills in six years. another promise change, more work. >> the senate stands adjourned. not so fast, mcconnell is vowing the senate will actually stay in washington for a five-day workweek just like the rest of us. the short schedule actually has implications on compromise and,

wolf, mcconnell noted that today that when you make it clear to members of the senate that you're not going to leave until a particular bill is done then all of a sudden the opposition to getting to negotiations, to getting to that deal seems to sort of melt away because people want to get home, but they also know they can't leave and they'll have to compromise. >> despite joni ernst and ted cruz, he'll be the majority leader. >> he said that with a lot of confidence. >> thanks very much. among the election day's big winners is the republican senator lindsay graham of south carolina after winning a third term with 54% of the vote. he said there are areas where a conservative republican congress can, in fact, work with the liberal democratic senator. >> let's get to the sensitive issue right away of immigration reform. >> yes. >> you heard mitch mcconnell say if the president were to do

extensive immigration reform unilaterally through executive order it would be a big mistake and he'd be waving a red flag in front of a bull. you support comprehensive immigration reform. if congress can't pass legislation in the house and the senate what's wrong with the president doing it on his own? >> well, my view is that the president should give the new congress a chance. i've been working on this since 2006. i've got the scars to show for it. my belief is this is a dangerous miscalculation by the president, but i hate to agree with jay carney. i don't want to ruin a rising career in the broadcast world, but i think jay's probably right. the president has calculated that the risk of not following through with the executive action when he promised to do it is greater than just trying to engage the new congress. i think he's making a mistake and the public will let him know if they agree with this decision. >> do you think there are enough votes in either the lame duck

session of the senate or the house or in the next session to go ahead and pass substantive legislation and the kind of legislation you, senator mccain, marco rubio and others wanted? >> really, i don't know, wolf. at the end of the day the republican party would benefit from getting immigration off the table and it would be hard for me to see how we could win the precedence ney 2016 if we are blamed for blocking immigration reform. at the same time i think the american people will be very fair when it comes to immigration reform and they will rebel against president obama doing it unilaterally because if you give am nest toe people through executive action and really don't secure your border and change the legal immigration system which he can't do by himself, you're inviting a run on our border and i think he's making a big miss step here and if we do try as a new republican-controlled congress and we fail because we're too hard headed and too hard hearted then we'll pay a price. >> what was the message the

president delivered to you when he called you last night to congratulate you on your win? >> he said you're an interesting cat. i represent a very red state, i love my state, but i do try to find ways to solve problems. i think what you saw today was the outline of a solution on the infrastructure problems. the president embraced last night with me a desire to replenish the highway trust fund and improve our roads, bridges and ports and using overseas tax dollars that could be repatriated at a lower rate, below 35%. i think that's going to work. i'm very encouraged by when he said about infrastructure. >> what was your message to him? >> be patient. you know, patience is a virtue and democracy i think is necessity. you're no different than other presidents at the six-year point. bill clinton and ronald reagan were able to do good things. challengeous immigration. expose us as a party.

do we really want to have a practical solution to immigration now that we have both houses of congress. test us in 2015, don't go it alone and work with me and others for the defense cuts. i would like to do a mini simpson-bowles still. he embraced that idea. i said be patient and you're an engaging fellow, it's hard not to like the president and he's a distant figure in washington and get that behind you and unleash joe biden. everybody likes joe. >> you think joe biden could be a good conduit and liaison with the republican leadership. let joe out of the house and invite us down. talk us to, you know, the next two years could be good if we all want it to be. >> how many times in the first six years has he invited you over for dinner or let's say a cocktail or a little movie or something at the white house? >> well, i don't blame him for not inviting me to dinner.

most people don't, but we've had a lot of time on the phone. i've been to the white house numerous times. i'm going to work on an authorization to use military force about our actions in syria and iraq. so i've actually had a very good interaction with the president and we are now in a heated time in american politics and we've become distant and i've just gotten reelected and i'm excited about the next two years and the next six years. so invite us down, let's re-engage and see where it takes us. >> we'll continue this conversation in a moments. senator graham, i've got to take a quick break, but when we come back we'll talk about what's going on in iraq and syria internationally. will america's adversaries take advantage of a politically weakened president of the united states? these final two years of his office to go ahead and do stuff the united states sincerely doesn't want them to do? stay with us. eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

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we're back with republican senator lindsay graham of south carolina. senator graham, the impressive wins that the republicans had yesterday in the house and the senate and governor's races and state legislature, should that be seen as a mandate that the republicans can now coast and say the american people are with us? what happened? >> well, we had very good candidates for a change. this was the best crop i've seen in a long time, but it was not embracing us. this herd you described running over democrats can really turn on us. you don't have to read the tea leaves to understand what's going on here. the american people put a stop sign out in front of the oval office and the president just obviously can't see it so i don't take this as people in

america becoming republicans. i see this as telling the president stop, reconsider where you're going. >> what's the most important lesson the republicans have to learn because you remember, four years ago when the republicans took the house the president acknowledged there was a shellacking. two years later, he was decisively reelected. so there may have been another shellacking yesterday and that doesn't guarantee the republicans will be in the white house two years ago. >> this crowd can turn on you. in 2004 we had the white house, president bush and 55 republicans. by 2008 we were down to 40. so we've got to deliver and this may be our last best chance as a party to re-establish ourselves in the eyes of the american people. i think mitch has got the right attitude, pass budgets and pass appropriation bills and try to find common ground with the president. i think he's making a serious mistake about going it alone on immigration because that's exactly what people are tired of and don't like about his style of governing and challenge us to meet him in the middle and sit

down and roll your sleeves up and get involved with the new congress. so my advice to republicans is that you all said you wanted to solve problems. come here to town to prove you can. >> you know you will get resistance from tea party activists and ted cruz of texas and they're not going to want to compromise with this president. >> everybody that got elected had a cup overall things that were music to my ears as republicans. they all rejected about leading from behind and you all had ways of how the world views this election and adversaries of the united states that this election was about president obama's foreign policy and it was perceived to be weak and people who got elected said they wanted to be stronger and bolder and they wanted to be more engaged against isis and isil and be more push back against putin and not less and deal stronger and i'm going to introduce legislation requiring any deal requiring any nuclear program

for congress on an up or down vote. the people running as republicans rejected running from behind and i hope our enemies and adversaries understand the american people want the president to push back and hopefully he'll get the message. >> you've seen the reports that the administration together with the other international partners go ahead and reach some sort of deal with iran. he says potentially at least the reports suggest he might unilaterally ease those sanks against iran and forget about congress because he doesn't think he'd necessarily get support in congress. >> the most consequential decision this president will make in his final two years is how to do with the iranian nuclear threat. i believe they're trying to use a small nuclear program to one day break out and build a bomb just like north korea. i think the deal in the making is a north korea in the making and democrats up for reelection should want to see this deal. every member of congress should insist that we see this deal and

vote it up or down. i hope hillary clinton would say that's a reasonable thing to do. i will not tolerate, as much as i want to work with the president engaging in a deal with the iranian a toll as without the congress looking at the details and voting on it because it's too important. >> i'm worried and i've spoken to a lot of others who are worried that some adversaries of the united states will see a weakened american president politically and he suffered some major political setbacks yesterday as an opportunity to test the united states, whether putin or anybody else, isis. are you worried about that? >> a bit, but here's the message i think the american people sent in this election, they want a bolder foreign policy. every republican, the days of isolationism in the republican party flirting with isolationism seemed to be over. this crop of new republicans make me and mccain look like moderates. i am so pleased with their view of how to defend america and the

idea that the american people understood what they were saying and elected them is encouraging to me and the american people by 71% believe that a terrorist attack is somewhat very likely against our nation so the person people understand the threat and any enemy of the united states understand needs to understand this election was about pushing back against you. >> senator rand paul, may not be an isolationist, but he calls himself a non-interventionist. have we lost you over there, senator? hold on a second. i think he's reconnecting. senator, can you hear me? >> yeah. i think -- i think they disconnected me. >> putin, you may be on his do not enter list into rush abu that's another story. senator rand paul clearly describes himself as a non-interventionist which is not

necessarily what you are. >> i think he was -- his idea of how the republican party should embrace foreign policy was one of the biggest losers. i like rand and i want to work with him on domestic issues, but his idea of, you know, embracing a foreign policy footprint that is completely contrary to peace through strength, quite frankly, i think, one of the biggest losers last night was that view of foreign policy. nobody coming into the senate in this election cycle was anything less than bold on foreign policy. >> senator, thanks very much for joining us and congratulations on your reelection yesterday. >> thank you. coming up, our exit polls reveal important changes about who is voting now and how the u.s. electorate is changing. our own john king is standing by over at the magic wall. later, security cameras capture frightening scenes of one of today's terror attacks in jerusalem. could attacks like this be coming to the united states?

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the republican party, i should say, scored resounding victories in the midterms. some very interesting long-term trends are emerging. john king has been digging into the numbers. he's joining us once again from the magic wall with some voter analysis. john, you did an amazing job last night. give us more insight into what you're learning. >> let's look first at the republican route. there's no question this was a repudiation of the president, but what it was not was a love letter to the republicans. we started with 55 democrats and

45 republicans, and the 55 include two independents. here's where we are at the moment with 52-45. the republicans will also get the alaska senate seat soon. they're still counting absentee ballots soon and in the runoff right now the republicans are heavily favored in louisiana. we could end up with 54 and the virginia race would not be called yet and they could end up with 54 and conceivably 55. republicans take control of the senate, but let's switch maps and come over and look at the house race and this is one of the more stunning views of the united states. if you go back to this, this was the house, 257 democrats just after the big obama election in 2008. 257 democrats. now, wofrl, watch. watch all of this blue, wherever you live in the country, watch your part of the country and this is becoming a much more red america at the house level and the house level and republicans running it up and it helps them

build the bench and we'll see with that republican senate and the republican house whether anything can get done. as good as this looks if you're thinking of running for president, let me go back one more time. you better remember this map. it is still in play and there's nothing that suggests that the republicans are ready to win in new mexico or nevada, meaning win a higher percentage of latino votes. nothing happened to suggest when african-americans turn out in greater numbers and let's look at the exit polls to being bah up that point. yesterday was a midterm electorate and not a presidential electorate. the number of women was lower than in presidential years and not as big a gap between men and women. that favored the republicans yesterday. in presidential years it tends to be higher. we also have a smaller p/essage of younger voters yesterday and a higher percentage of older voters and that tends to favor republicans and a midterm electorate and not a presidential electorate. also a wider electorate by 72% in the presidential election, and 75% now. a lot of people think that

doesn't make a big deal, it does make a big difference because whites overwhelmingly vote republican. the african-american vote about stable, but as you look at that, this was an electorate favoring the republicans. we'll see what happens and the key test of the democrats and what happens in the next presidential election without barack obama on the ballot. but here is the warning shot to republicans and yes, they won just about everything yesterday, but are you satisfied with the republican leaders in congress? 60% of the voters said no. they are on trial as well here and also opinions of the republican party, 54% unfavorable so they start under water and that's a favorite term they like to use for the president this year. that's where the republicans start as they have the new governing opportunity. also look at this. look at this, remember when the republican party had nationwide. 57% of the voters, a lot of republicans said undocumented workers should be offered legal status in the united states. so republicans out of step with the american people and at least

the majority on that a little bit and this is iowa. the first big test of republicans and 50% there. even 50% there. yes the republicans won, but if you take a look at the exit polls. they are not necessarily in sync with a big chunk of the voters, wolf. so they get a chance to govern, but not everything is changeded. >> it helps explain why lindsay graham said that herd can turn against the republicans pretty quickly if they don't do the right stuff in the next two years. stay with us. during the news conference he had today he appeared to leave the door open to working with the new republican congress. listen to this. >> if there are ideas that the republicans that i have confidence will make things better for ordinary americans, the fact that the republicans suggesting it as opposed to a democrat, that will be irrelevant to me. i want to just see what works. >> i want to bring in our chief political analyst gloria borger and our cnn political

commentat commentator, and john, you're still with us. the message he made at the news conference. >> he said he'd like to reach out and find common ground and the question is on this dance earns the republicans feel emboldened and the republicans are on their heels a little bit. who gives the first big test? will they strike a deal with immigration? do we think mcconnell can do that and he's about to do his executive actions and that will throw a log on the fire. so the talk was nice today. the question is when people start doing things, are they incendiary or conciliatory. >> think what the president did today, though, he said okay, by january i'm going to do this executive board, but he's going to meet with republicans. i think he left himself, and you guys all cover politics, a little bit of wiggle room there in case there's something incremental that he can do on immigration reform together and if it's not all of what he wants then maybe he would do something else in an executive action. so i do -- >> they use it as leverage.

>> he is trying to use it as leverage and that would be wise to pick up on it. >> so if we come up with a legislative proposal i'll get rid of this executive order. so this executive order is only if we don't come up with something legislatively. for all of the reasons we've been talking about the last few weeks it seems very unlikely that they'll compromise on something legislatively and the senate tried to do something last year. >> it passed it, and they felt very burned by it and marco rubio, do you think he wants to go down that road again? >> we don't know to what the extent obama will go. >> he's made a commitment to the latinos and the democratic base, i promise right after the election, before the end of this year, if there's no legislation i'm going to sign a piece of paper and we will begin the process of moving millions of these illegal people here in the united states to some sort of legal status. >> mitch mcconnell said, red flag. >> there ar a lot of hispanic

groups that feel burned in three elections by the democrats. you promised us this legislation and you keep pulling the carpet out from underneath us and i don't think there's any choice that obama has to go forward with this. >> we have both on the house and the senate side and republicans holding gavels and is this an overreach and is this constitutional ask is this an abuse of power and we'll start stoking the bases in both parties and the only way to make deals is to meet in the middle and you start bringing up these issues and they just promise the voters will vote to repeal obamacare. they're expected to keep that promise at least once, but when they fail what happens? >> mitch mcconnell said i don't expect to repeal obamacare and what i think he'll do without getting too wonky about it is attach changes to obamacare on the budget which only requires a majority vote and doesn't majority the signature of the president and that's one way he can sort of get that in there. >> he did make -- it's almost like a red line. he made this commitment to these undocumented immigrants here in

the united states. many of them, as he pointed out, they've lived here for a long time and their children are u.s. citizens. if he doesn't deliver it will look like he blinked and he's walking away from a commitment like that which as you know, ryan will deeply alienate a lot of the base and they didn't do well with hispanic voters and democratic strategists will say maybe that's why and the only deal on the table is the pathway to citizenship for some board control. nobody believes that the republicans will go for that. >> he has for decades. >> so you look somewhere else. is there some place else to start? could you do medicare reform and could you do tax reform? roads and bridges and i think infrastructure wins. that one wins because republican governors want that, but can you do those other things?

say the president says all right, you're not going to repeal obamacare and i'll give you fixes and in return we need medicare changes. watch elizabeth warren and become the new ted cruz and jump in front of the train. >> or hillary clinton. >> also keystone. keystone pipeline and as senator portman suggested that you get something on emissions controls and you do the pipeline. i mean -- >> somebody on the left will jump up on that. >> somebody on the left will, but actually that could be hillary clinton's problem and not barack obama's. >> you wrote a good column suggesting that the turning point that why the democrats did so poorly because of the commitment he made that he didn't deliver on when it comes to foreign policy. >> in talking to consultants on both sides of the aisle before last night, all of them said to me, turning point was when the president said he didn't have a strategy on isis and then he said we underestimated isis, they saw their polling, the republican party saw their polls go up.

the democrats saw their polls go down because it fed into the narrative of a world that's out of control, the fear factor, incompetency at the white house. that was the narrative they'd established through obamacare. they couldn't even get up a website and so they built on that and they think that gave them the momentum heading into the last couple of weeks of the campaign. >> stand by with more politics coming up here in "the situation room." lots to digest and also other news we're following and breaking news, some very disturbing images. hamas blessing a van driver who killed one person, injured 13 others in jerusalem and the hunt is on for a driver who injured three soldiers in the west bank. also these new pictures of the north korean dictator kim jong-un. he's dropped his cane and he's apparently dropping the hammer on political rivals. so i can reach ally bank 24/7, but there are no branches? 24/7

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for the second time in two weeks, a driver slammed into people. a police officer is dead, 13 bystanders are injured. hamas says it blesses the action which israel calls a terror attack and right now the hunt is on for the driver of another car attack in which three israeli soldiers were hurt in the west bank. let's go live to cnn's erin mclaughlin. she's joining us from jerusalem with more. what's going on over there, erin? >> reporter: wolf, surveillance footage shows the moment when a car or truck, rather, collided with three israeli soldiers

injuring them in the west bank. israeli police have identified the car as a palestinian car and they are currently searching for the driver. that attack following an attack that happened in jerusalem earlier today in which a palestinian man drove a man into a light rail station, striking a group of people. surveillance footage shows the moment of impact there. you can actually see four people lying on the ground. the driver then continues on before crashing the van, getting out and continuing the attack on foot. israeli forces surrounded him and shot and killed him. these attacks are just part of a wave of violence in jerusalem and now the west bank that we've been seeing over the past few months which many people say began with the kidnapping and killing of three israeli teenagers earlier this year. that was followed by the

kidnapping and killing of a palestinian teenager which triggered a series of events which led to the gaza war. the tensions really continuing today and israeli police telling me that it's very difficult to prevent this kind of attack from happening, wolf? >> as you take a look, what are the israelis likely to do about this? obviously, i don't know how you can prevent this kind of an attack from going on if, in fact, it was a deliberate car ramming into a bunch of people just standing on a sidewalk. what do the israelis say they can do about this? >> reporter: well, israeli police spokesperson telling me they're going to be increasing security yet again across the city and they've increased security before. just two weeks ago there was a very similar incident in jerusalem in which a palestinian man drove his car into that very same light rail area, plowing it

into a crowd of people. that attack killing a 3-month-old israeli-american as well as an ecuadorian woman. so these kinds of attacks, as i said, wolf, very difficult to prevent. >> erin mclaughlin, thanks for that report. >> we're getting new images of north korean leader kim jong-un. and he's gotten rid of his cane and political opponents at the same time. not to be focusing, again, on my moderate my goal was to finally get in shape. to severe chronic plaque psoriasis. so i finally made a decision to talk to my dermatologist about humira. humira works inside my body to target and help block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to my symptoms. in clinical trials, most adults with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis saw 75% skin

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he's also apparently moving against some of his political opponents. brian todd has the latest information. >> reporter: the latest pictures out of north korea show a more robust kim jong-un, appearing before his troops, trying to show the world he's still in control. but tonight, there are indications that behind the propaganda, kim's hold on power could be in doubt. he gives the full appearance of a commander in chief, walking with battalion commanders. and in new photographs released, kim jong-un, for the first time since his six-week disappearance, is seen walking without a cane. this comes after reports kim had surgery for tarsal tunnel syndrome. >> it's hard to know if he has full mobility back. for tarsal tunnel surgery, after two or three weeks you would have almost a normal gait. >> reporter: tarsal tunnel

syndrome is when nerves and tendons become compressed by inflation. in kim's case, it could come back. >> with five years, there's significant recurrence, maybe 30%, 40%. if you haven't solved the underlying problems, it's even more likely to come back. >> reporter: the potential stress kim could be under won't help. south korean lawmakers say kim ordered the executions of ten party officials by firing squad. the charges, they say, ranged from corruption to watching south korean soap operas. >> the soap operas may be the most salacious aspect of what is seen as a seditious -- he has good reason to be paranoid. he's the third generation, too young to be leading, he does haven't the experience.

but he does have the ruthlessness to commit executions. >> reporter: the reported purging of those officials comes less than a year after he had his own uncle executed. intelligence officials have no indication that kim is not firmly in charge, but right now the person who kim trusts the most is his sister, who has taken on a larger role in the government. she's about the only one he trusts completely. >> amidst all of this, there are reports about some potential advances in north korea's nuclear weapons program. >> that is going on right now. south korean officials say the north has operated a new plant to produce nuclear grade weapons. a top commander in south korea says he believes north korea has mastered the technology to put a warhead on a nuclear missile. this is all very disturbing, all in the backdrop of kim's purges.

>> lots going on over there in north korea. thank you very much. coming up, after the stunning republican rout, the 2016 race for the white house already beginning. can the gop use this big win against hillary clinton? and hamas blesses the driver who targeted pedestrians in a deadly jerusalem attack. another vehicle slams into soldiers in the west bank. i'll speak live with a stop israeli police official. big idak is still missing. so my buddy here is going to help me find it. here we go. woo who, woah, woah, woah. it's out there somewhere spreading the word about americas favorite potatoes: heart healthy idaho potatoes and the american heart association's go red for women campaign. if you see it i hope you'll let us know. always look for the grown in idaho seal. i'm sure you know what this meeting is about.

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hatching now, the president responds to the midterm rout by the republicans. >> they are obviously not satisfied with the direction of the administration. >> now that mitch mcconnell and the republicans are taking control of the senate, will the gridlock ease up or get worse? gop presidential hopefuls are trying to use it against hillary clinton. plus, terror in the streets. drivers ram into pedestrians and soldiers in a series of horrifying attacks. it just happened again. stand by for the breaking news. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >> this is cnn breaking news. >> the breaking news this hour, an attacker using a van as a weapon. tonight, a vehicle rammed into an israeli military post in the west bank only hours early a commercial van ran into me k

pedestrian, killing an israeli police officer. and the other breaking story, president obama's acknowledging that republicans had a good night in their midterm selection sweep but steering clear of calling it a shellacking or taking blame. we're covering all the breaking news, including the president's news conference. our michelle kaczynski has the latest from the white house. >> reporter: i'm not hearing programming. >> i guess we got a little program with michelle, she wasn't hearing program, as you heard. we're going to get to michelle in a moment. she filed this report just a little while ago. >> reporter: his party trounced at the polls. president obama at moments sounded dplsound ed resigned to two more years of having to compromise or fight it out with republicans. >> what stands out to me is the

american people sent a message, that everyone voted, i want you to know that i hear you. to the 2/3 of voters who chose not to participate in the process yesterday, i hear you, too. >> reporter: but he vowed to reach out. >> they want me to push hard to close some of these divisions, break through some of the gridlock, and get stuff done. >> reporter: on immigration. >> i'm eager to see what they have to offer. but what i'm not going to do is just wait. >> reporter: meaning the time for him to take executive action is likely near. >> they have every opportunity to do it. my executive actions not only do not prevent them from passing a law that supersedes those actions, but should be a spur for them to try to get something done. and i am prepared to engage them with every step of the way. >> reporter: on other issues, the president listed some area there is is some common ground already. boosting exports, early

childhood education, but on the big challenges like health care, he made it clear this is likely to be a rough road. that there will be places he will not compromise. he could veto republican efforts to repeal obamacare or take out chunks of it that would render it effectively dead. though again he offered something of an olive branch. >> there's no law that's ever been passed that's perfect. we are, i think, really proud of the work that's been done. but there's no doubt that there are areas where we can improve it. >> reporter: so he's acknowledging last night's loss with a sense of okay, now we have to work together with this commitment to reach out to republicans, find the common ground and finally get certain things done. he could ask why wouldn't that have happened before? his message now is, let's compromise where we can, however, on those tough issues, immigration, health care, he made it very clear there are lines he will not let republicans cross.

>> he said that are some issues where there may be common ground on trade, tax reform. let's see what, if anything, they can get done. i know they're having lunch with the president on friday. michelle, thank you very much. the man who is taking charge of the u.s. senate is talking about ending gridlock. we're talking about the new republican leader, mitch mcconnell. he spoke out today about his party's victories and the challenges ahead. let's bring in dana bash. his message is, he wants to work with the president, if possible. >> thart's right. and there's a very good reason for that. just in terms of the election results, what the message was, and he said this loud and clear, that he understands that of course it was anti-obama. probably nobody played that out more in his re-election campaign than he did, tying alison lundergan crimes to president

obama. but people are frustrated that washington doesn't work, so he knows his first challenge is to make washington work. listen to what he said. >> the person people have changed the senate, so i think we have an obligation to change the behavior of the senate and to begin to function again. that doesn't guaranty the president is going to agree with everything we do, but we're going to go back to work. >> now, to be fair, i talked to democrats and they say, give me a break. mitch mcconnell was the reason why the senate didn't function. he obstructed everything that he could to make sure that there were no up or down votes. and to do other things. but the bottom line, he is now in charge and he is an institutionalist and he is an inside player. he knows how to play the game if he wants to do so. >> he knows the rules and knows how to do it. what kind of personal relationship do these two men have, mitch mcconnell and president obama? >> mitch mcconnell said today

they have a cordial relationship. actually, they have some similar traits. mcconnell is not somebody -- he's the opposite of bill clinton. he's not a back slapper or hang out with his buddies in the senate kind of guy. he doesn't have those kind of relationships, not unlike the president. they both like to put their head down and do their work. so perhaps they could be, if they really want to be, be two peas in pod. >> mitch mcconnell does have a good relationship with the vice president, joe biden. >> he has a good working relationship, but it's not like they go out and drink beer together. i think that's true with mcconnell and a lot of his colleagues, that's sort of not his thing. again, not unlike the president who gets a lot of slack as you

heard today for not engaging enough. >> thank you very much, dana, for that report. the end of the 2014 election marks the unofficial start of the 2016 race for the white house. right now, some republican hopefuls are feeling emboldened by their party's wins overnight. breanna? >> reporter: campaigning for a winning candidate is like a badge of honor. the opposite is true when a politician attaches his or her name to a candidate who loses. the race for the white house begins, after a huge night for republicans, including those eyeing a presidential bid. like new jersey governor chris christie, who is stumping and winning gop contests across the country, has earned him more

2016 speculation. >> i'm incredibly flattered. but this morning, what i feel is incredible pride in really great candidates across the country. >> reporter: ohio governor john kasich, another possible contender, cruised to re-election. and governor scott walker, won a close race in wisconsin, hinting he might run for the presidency as a washington outsider. >> that's the difference between washington and wisconsin. they're all against something, we are for something. >> reporter: but the interparty scuffles are already under way. walker, ticked off at christie for not sending more money his way. christie scuffling with rand paul on foreign policy and paul taking shots, too, asked about the new senate majority leader mitch mcconnell's win in his home state, he turned the conversation to the democratic front-runner. >> i think in kentucky, it's really a repudiation of the

president's policies but also of hillary clinton. hillary clinton was very active in kentucky. the interesting thing is, ms. grimes decided she was going to run as a clinton democrat. >> reporter: now on paul's facebook page, a photo album called hillary's losers. clinton campaigned for grimes twice and she lost big, by 16 points. and democrat bruce frayly in iowa lost by nine points. while clinton campaigned for a key democratic winner, new hampshire senator jeanne shaheen, but overall the losses outweighed the successes. but maybe it doesn't matter too much. exit polls showed clinton is by far the favorite in iowa, new hampshire and south carolina where she polled in the mid 60s. it's noteworthy, though, certainly didn't escape notice for someone so involved in campaigning for democrats in the midterms, hillary clinton has been quiet so far on the result

of that. >> the announcements of presidential intent running for the white house, about to be given the next few weeks and months. breanna, thank you very much. we'll get back to the fallout that the rout the democrats suffered yesterday in the elections. but we are following breaking news out of israel, where a van rammed into three israeli soldiers, one critically injured. we have the video of the incident. i want to warn our viewers, some of you will find it very disturbing. you can see the soldiers on the side of the road, as cars passed by when one vehicle swerves right into them. the search is under way for the driver of the vehicle. this comes hours after another driver's deadly rampage in jerusalem. erin, what is the latest you're hearing over there? >> reporter: tonight in jerusalem, there's heightened security with clashes happening in various palestinian

neighborhoods throughout the city. this following two attacks that took place today. one in jerusalem, the other in the west bank, with police saying these kinds of incidents are difficult to prevent. surveillance footage shows the moment a palestinian man drives into a jerusalem tram station. he crashes the van and continues his attack on foot. israeli forces shoot him dead. 13 people are injured. a border police officer was killed. >> there was no intelligence that a terrorist attack was going to take place here. we're looking to see if it was a lone terrorist or if he was sent. >> reporter: the suspect is later identified as a 38-year-old palestinian, a resident of an east jerusalem refugee camp. the attack is part of a wave of violence in jerusalem fueled by tensions surrounding the noble sanctuary known to jews as the temple mount. last week, there was an attack

on right wing rabbi jehuda glick. for the first time in 14 years, it was completely closed, angering many muslims. >> they feel their place of worship is being lost. >> reporter: wednesday morning, tensions at the site boiled over. clashes broke out between israeli forces and palestinian youth. as you can see, the police have just cleared this area using stun grenades and force. they're trying to get all of the people out here waiting to get inside the site. minutes later, there's an uneasy calm. the city of jerusalem remains on edge. the funeral took place tonight under heavy security and court order. according to a cnn producer, who was at the funeral, heavy clashes later erupted.

wolf? >> very worrisome developments. thank you very much for that report. i want to stay on the breaking news right now, because there are other developments unfolding as well and the ramifications very serious. joining us is the israeli police spokesman, mickey rosenfeld, joining us from jerusalem right now. i want to remind our viewers, we saw that gut wrenching video out of jerusalem today and the gaza bank, with those clashes between israelis and palestinians. mickey rosenfeld, if you can hear me, what can you tell us about these attacks, if they are attacks? i assume you believe these were deliberate terror attacks, not just an accident, is that right? >> we can confirm that there were two terrorist attacks here in jerusalem today. the first one being in the heart of the city, the second one just outside of jerusalem. as a result, the israeli police quickly responded at one of the

scenes, and certainly there's been heightened security since the incident itself with different police units being mobilized to prevent and respond to the disturbances that have taken place. >> do you believe this is part of a deliberate pattern? i think there have been three incidents where cars, drivers or trucks rammed into people on sidewalks or on the street, if you will. is this a new tactic that's under way, is this copy cat activity? what's your analysis? >> over the last three weeks in fact, there's been a number of terrorist attacks in jerusalem. what we've seen at least on the ground level is the terrorists have taken advantage that they can come easily out of the arab neighborhoods and into town and using a vehicle and steering a vehicle into innocent people, women and children, soldiand we

also making security measures to prevent further attacks from taking place. therefore, we've both removed in certain areas different obstacles. we will also set up other obstacles around the light rail in jerusalem to make sure that the area will be safe and prevent further attacks. >> is this a coordinated plot or are these simply isolated incidents? a few weeks ago, this was an incident in canada where a driver tried to run over some canadian soldiers killing one, wounding another. >> part of the ongoing investigation, what we know until now, is the isn't, at least from today's terrorist attack, was a lone individual. he worked on his own. we do know he was affiliated with hamas. but he decided to take his vehicle and slam into innocent people. so we do see that he was acting alone. therefore, we have to strengthen our intelligence circles and try and find those suspects before

they get out on the streets of jerusalem or possibly other areas as we experience late in this area in the west bank. >> you say acting alone but affiliating with hamas but not necessarily receiving orders, this was not a hamas coordinated attack, is that what you're saying? >> that's more or less what's taking place. the terrorists are leaving different areas. but we have to focus at the moment on what's going on, on the ground level. heightened security will continue in jerusalem as more than 1,000 police officers are working in and around the different neighborhoods with emphasis on the old city to prevent disturbances there. this will continue as long as necessary, leading up to the next 24-48 hours, friday prayers on the temple mount and the weekend. >> a lot of fears of a third entifadha that would be erupting. we're going to continue in conversation. we have more questions for you right after this.

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we're following breaking news out of the west bank and in jerusalem, a car rammed into three israeli jo i soldiers, on critically injured. hours earlier, another driver went on a deadly rampage, killing one person and injuring a dozen in jerusalem before he was shot and killed. mickey rosenfeld, are you on the verge now, you and the palestinians, the israelis and the palestinians, of seeing the

unrest really escalate there, in part because of israel's increased settlement activity in the west bank and a third entifadha could be in the works? >> absolutely not. the israeli police are focusing on what's going on, on the ground level. there's been tensions over the last few weeks. we have to deal with these terrorist attacks, but different units have been deployed and our main emphasis is to prevent more attacks from taking place. we have to look at the general picture. in general, if you walked the streets of jerusalem this afternoon, things were back to normal relatively quickly. the population here is capable of dealing with those types of incidents. the israeli police and medical teams responded as quick as possible. what we'll be doing is strengthening our intelligence

to prevent and find those terrorists who want to cause damage in the heart of israel. >> are you getting any security cooperation with the palestinian authority police? because in the past, there has been occasionally good cooperation between the israeli and palestinian authority security services. >> the israeli police work in coordination with the palestinian police on different issues, such as car thefts and transferring important information when necessary. there's a lot of roads used by israeli and palestinian vehicles at the same time. but in terms of preventing terrorist attacks, the majority of the police counterterrorist operations and the army, that's under our jurisdiction and our authorization. >> what can you do if somebody wants to get into a car and drive up on a sidewalk and kill some people, how do you prevent that? >> that's exactly what is taking place here in jerusalem this

evening. there was security assessments that were made, what can be implemented to prevent certain vehicles of entering an area that is used by thousands of people. so there's going to be concrete setups to prevent those vehicles coming into certain areas. and we're going to continue to assess the security situation. extra police units throughout the early hours of the morning will be on site in different areas of jerusalem, as well as the old city. >> we showed our viewers some very graphic pictures of what was going on in the temple mount in jerusalem, what the muslims call the noble sanctuary, the third holiest site to muslims in the world. it was pretty violent. has that calmed down or is that continuing? >> well, throughout the beginning of the week, sunday,

monday, tld, the temple mount was relatively quiet. there were disturbances there this morning, where 30 to 40 palestinians threw stones and fired fireworks at our police officers with intent to cause damage and harm them and try to throw stones at jews praying at the wall. so our police officers had to immediately respond, only using stun grenades, nonlethal weapons. the police arrived, closed the main gate to prevent anyone from coming in and out of the mosque. within a short space of time, within 12 minutes, the police units secured the mosque from the outside only, so therefore the visits on the temple mount took place as scheduled. there were 308 visitors to the everyone thele mount this morning, 200 being tourists. >> are you allowing muslims to

pray freely there? >> muslims have prayed there since sunday, but security assessments will be made later this week. if there are any indications of predetermining and prepreparation terrorist attacks, or any incidents, there will be age limits implemented and that's part of the security measures on the ground level. >> what does that mean, age limits? >> men only from the age of 40 or 50 that will be allowed on the temple mount on a friday. women of all ages are allowed to pray. once that takes place on the ground level, there will be disturbances only outside the old city and not on the temple mount itself.

>> mickey rosenfeld is the spokesman for the israeli police force. thank you very much for joining us. >> thank you very much. >> let's hope it quiets down in jerusalem. just ahead, breaking down the election here in the united states and the republican midterm sweep. what does it mean for 2016? and breaking news about a top al qaeda operative believed to be killed in a u.s. drone strike. stay with us. a dry mouth can be a common side effect. that's why there's biotene. it comes in oral rinse, spray or gel, so there's moisturizing relief for everyone. biotene, for people who suffer from a dry mouth.

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we're following two breaking stories, including the president's reaction to the republican's huge gains in the senate. and it appears a high level al qaeda operative has been killed in a u.s. drone strike. i want to go to barbara starr. what are you learning? >> reporter: this was in yemen where the u.s. again in the last several days has been conducting a number of drone strikes. the man was a senior al qaeda operative in yemen. they do believe u.s. officials telling me they believe the drone strike did hill kim. he's described as a senior operative deeply involved with al qaeda, plotting against u.s. interests. a man they very much wanted to get. this is a very big deal for the

u.s. in trying to clamp down on al qaeda in yemen. >> i understand that you're getting information that the u.s. may expand air strikes in syria. what are you learning? >> as we're finishing talking about yemen here, word that the u.s. is not closing the door to expanding air strikes against an al qaeda affiliate in syria. that is a war, wolf, that is getting more complicated every day. [ gunfire ] >> reporter: syrian rebel fighters struggle fighting regime forces across northwest syria. challenged by syrian president bashar al assad's troops, as well as isis and al qaeda fighters. the administration suddenly holding open the door by not ruling out possibly expanding the u.s. mission to air strikes

against el nisra, which has pushed the rebels from key areas. >> the united states remains concerned about all threats from syria. that's driven by the fact that this front has been public in threatening the west. >> i am really not going to get into speculating about what options we may or may not be considering with respect to kinetic operations to active operations or strikes in particular. >> reporter: the u.s. man to help the rebels focused on training up to 5,000 syrian opposition soldiers to defend their towns and villages against isis. but their ultimate challenge, conduct offensive operations, fight isis toe-to-toe. today, president obama said finding moderate rebels to partner with is tough. >> we're trying to find a core

group to work with, that we have vetted, that can help in regaining territory from isil. that's always been difficult. >> reporter: training syrian rebel also take time. the pentagon estimates it could take a year to finish basic training for individual soldiers and up to 18 months to train more advanced units. that means if the u.s. could get started right away, fighting units might not be in the field before november 2015. it's a policy with huge problems. >> it's a whole lot tougher than just teaching them how to salute and shoot. they've got to be loyal to commanders. >> reporter: and the u.s. has no guarantee after training the rebels they will do what the u.s. wants. >> i think our mission is certainly to go against isis. when you talk to those on the ground, they might have a different view of this. their primary mission is to go

against assad. >> the new senate republican majority leader mitch mcconnell said today that all of this, the training of the rebels, the fight against isis is going to be a key topic when he sits down with president obama at lunch on friday. wolf? >> stand by, barbara. i want to bring in our global affairs correspondent and the former cia operative phil mudd. phil, you just heard barbara's report. the administration considering expanding these strikes against this al qaeda front in syria. there are some analysts that worry the president's political standing may have been eroded because of the republican gains overnight and adversaries of the u.s. may try to undermine him and take advantage of what they see is a weakened u.s. president. is that a factor here? s is i don't think that's a factor. the issues are broader and more complex than what barbara talked about. you've got a question of whether

to continue with the accelerated withdraw in afghanistan where the taliban is surging, moving across, the iraqi army has been mildly capable against isis, but they need more help. then you get into syria, the most complex situation. should we not only expand support for the rebels, which is something i suspect the republicans will push for, but should we clarify -- >> you're taking a closer look how this new republican majority could affect the foreign policy of the united states. what are you picking up? >> first of all, as phil and barbara said, the republicans are going to want to look for a much more robust strategy, even more than president obama has been laying out, and the president said he would seek additional authorization from congress. but mitch mcconnell said he would support that, but they're going to want to be able to

define that a little more fully. if you're john kerry, that's a good thing. but this president has been very cautious and will induce a lot oval pressure. and the nuclear negotiations with iran just got a little more difficult. president obama has suggested he could bypass congress, not seek an up or down vote. lindsey graham is adamant that the republicans be involved. so they could enact more sangions against iran and torpedo the deal. >> lindsey graham says there has to be an up or down vote in the congress. barbara, take us behind the scenes at the pentagon a little bit. what is the impact, do you think, of a republican majority

now in the senate, as well as in the house on what the u.s. might be doing as far as iraq and syria and some of these other battles are concerned. >> look, escapes no one's attention that senator john mccain, republican of arizona, is now expected to be the new chairman of the senate armed services committee, a close ally of graham. both have been very vocal about their view more military action by the u.s. is needed. a much more aggressive military posture in the middle east, especially against syria. the question now for the pentagon is, can they really still respond to that republican pressure. of course, the u.s. military works for the president of the united states. it's going to be very interesting to see what top commanders have to say publicly when they are put on the spot by mccain. senator mccain doesn't pull his punches. it could get very sporty.

>> what do you think about that, phil? >> the problem we face here, i remember works on the covert action program in afghanistan almost a quarter century ago. we had a great partner, pakistan. we do not have that partner here. we had the support of groups that were coherent. finding one of those characteristics in syria, we have not said we're supporting the opposition to oust the government, and we don't have a partner to deal with who is consistent in helping us support the opposition. >> guys, thank you very much. we're going the get back to the breaking political news when we come back. we want to break down the election results, the republican's stunning midterm victory. lots more coming up after this. (receptionist) gunderman group.

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president obama says he's going to leave it to the professional pundits to pick through the results of the midterm elections. joining us, dana bash, ron bronstein, jeffrey toobin and gloria borger. i guess since he doesn't want to talk about the political ramifications, we can. very significant development for the president, for the congress, for the american people. we heard from the president today, but there's some media attention that will develop over the issue of immigration reform. he says if the congress isn't going to pass legislation, he's going to do it on his own, and mitch mcconnell said that would be a big mistake. >> the story line of the last congress is not that different from the one we see now. the leaders in the republican

party want to get things done. the problem is getting their rank and file to go along. a part of the issue in talking with many rank and file republicans all over time and on the hill is that they insist they don't trust the president. so here you have republicans saying they want to work with the president and if mitch mcconnell waves the red flag in front of the ball, it's going to be very hard to convince the rank and file to compromise. >> they're supposed to have lunch on friday. >> that will do it. >> the congressional leadership and the president of the united states. that's a lot going on now. >> nobody expects them to write poety together, wolf, but they have to all extend the olive branch. you know, let's be honest about this. the public has said, we don't think you get anything done in washington. we don't like you.

that's why we keep having these change elections. when it is in their own self-interest to get something done ie, their jobs are in jeopardy, then they get something done. could it be corporate tax reform? maybe? repairing roads or bridges or trade? absolutely. >> why would there possibly be any agreement on immigration now? the house of representatives is now more conservative than it was, or will be. and they didn't even have a vote only it for two years. obama has to do what he's going to do because nothing is going to happen. >> if he does that, that pois poisons -- >> there was not a single republican elected to the senate who endorsed the senate bill who would support a pathway to citizenship for the 11 million here undocumented. so it's going to be very hard

for them to get to the same place. but if you do this, it is waving a red flag in front of the bull. i bet he doesn't. this hat has long ago dispaired of his ability to get something done with a republican congress. >> just to answer your question, why now? because now the next election in front of us is 2016. republicans are going to implore their rank and file to do this in order to not shrink the republican party more than it was two years ago. >> do you think they can do something that includes legal status? >> no. >> you mean, instead of a path to citizenship? >> can they pass legal status with this house if >> possibly.

with a path to citizenship? not a chance. >> the republican party is a congressional party. you see how they can win in the red states like they did last night. if they want to be a presidential party, democrats are the presidential party right now. republicans have to expand their base. not only to women, but also to hispanic voters. they could win the majority of the senator without hispanic voters. >> let's talk about one of the big winners from last night, and that's ted cruz. he went out there and shut down the government and everybody said oh, it's going to be terrible for the republican party and they had a great year. he's going to be the most ex-troex extreme voice in the senate because he believes that's the way republicans win. >> rand paul has more pouter. -- more power.

>> it's the exact opposite of when we came here and now it's democrats who have won five out of six. 2010 and 2014, republicans won 60% of white voters and had a landslide victory. in 2012, they had 59% and lost the white house by 12 million votes. >> you know ted cruz. you've written a great article about ted cruz. when i spoke with him last night, he refused to say he'll vote for mitch mcconnell. do you think he will support mitch mcconnell as the senate >> ultimately yes. after extracting his pound of flesh. but any proposal that mcconnell puts forward, cruz is going to potentially veto even before it

gets to obama. so i just think the idea that there is going to be some sort of cooperation is out of the question. >> hold on, hold on, gloria. >> i'm not sure how much power cruz has inside of the senate. maybe more in the house. >> we have a lot more to discuss. stick around. we're assessing the round of vacations of the big republican win and what it means for the final two years of president obama's administration. sheila! you see this ball control? you see this right? it's 80% confidence and 64% knee brace. that's more... shh... i know that's more than 100%. but that's what winners give. now bicycle kick your old 401(k) into an ira. i know, i know. listen, just get td ameritrade's rollover consultants on the horn. they'll guide you through the whole process. it's simple. even she could do it. whatever, janet. for all the confidence you need.

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and talking about the republican's big election victory and the president's reaction and what it means for the country right now. jeffrey, there has to be a new attorney general pretty soon and confirmed by a republican majority, presumably in the senate. how will this election impact judicial nominees, cabinet employees, because that is something that could be explosive. >> i think the most specific difference you can point to ten the republican -- between the republican and the democratic senate is the nominations for lifetime judgeships may or may not be confirmed. harry reid made a big project to confirm judges and a third are now obama nominees. there will be 70 vacancies over the next few years how many president obama gets to fill is an open question. probably charles grassley will be chairman of the committee and hostile to obama and the supreme court nomination, if there is a

vacancy, is certainly good for my business but not good for him. >> we'll see a lot of subpoenas and investigations, will they make it miserable as the isis administration has in the house. >> and i know others are talking about that, i don't think it will be that big of a difference because a senate is just a different kind of place in the house traditionally. if they are doing that, it is really game over. can i turn the tables on you. >> before you were going to say something -- >> i was going to say, you talk about charles grassley, the iowa farmer, someone called it. the chairman of the judiciary committee, you are looking at an enormous change of what will be talking about every day, when you go from boxer to inhowever, and having hearings on regulatory overreach and hearings on federal agencies, it

will be a different dialogue. >> it will be alternate universe. >> it is. >> one end of pennsylvania avenue and the other. >> john mccain will be head of the national services. >> and you talk about the governors and what happened with the sweep and the unbelievable republican takeover of really blue states. you live in maryland. >> not only in maryland, but the president's home state of illinois and massachusetts. there are going to be republican governors. these are states where the president went out there and campaigned. >> you live in maryland, what do you think? >> the democrats would say, if you lost the senate, they were all red states and we had a bad map. the governor-ships are the most specific to the democratic party. michigan, ohio, massachusetts, maryland, i mean wisconsin. >> one interesting foot note, the governor of massachusetts is probably the most prominent statewide elected republican that is a supporter of gay

marriage. an interesting twist in blue states, we saw republicans saying they would accept it and not seek to overturn it in the states that have it. >> and i think you might have a republican presidential candidate instead of taking a position on gay marriage, backing off of that and saying let's leave it up to the states. >> was there something wrong with the polls, were we surprised, because a lot of the results we didn't anticipate. >> yeah, i think in the end many were hostile and upset with the president and they broke toward that. the reality is if the president was on the ballot, everywhere, over 80% of the people voted republican, democrat for the house and over 80% for the republicans. >> voters didn't like anybody but they didn't like obama the most. you won't ask the maryland question. >> we'll talk right after that. stand by. i have an important programming note. i'll be back later tonight with these folks. 10:00 p.m. eastern. we have a special america's

choice 2014, we'll take a much closer look for two hours at the very dramatic election results and what might be ahead for the congress, the white house and the country here on cnn, 10:00 p.m. eastern tonight. that is it for me. thanks for watching. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. "outfront" tonight, breaking news on several fronts. president obama facing the nation a day after a brutal defeat. he said he will compromise. could wash gridlock be worse than ever. two terror attacks in israel, police and soldiers run down by cars, violent clashes breaking out, is war next. and breaking news in the case of a philadelphia woman dragged down the street and forced into a car and all caught on tape. we're standing by for a police briefing tonight. let's go "outfront."